Liquid dispenser for floor waxing machines



July 5, 1949. LA SCALA HAL 2,475,189

LIQiIID DISPENSER FOR FLOOR WAXING HACHINES Filed March 12, 1946 undertension 22 INVENTORS JOE A.\A/lLBE-R FHCHAEL P. LASCALA Patented July5,1949

2,475,189 LIQUID DISPENSER FOR FLOOR WAXING MACHINES Michael P. LaScale. and Joe A. Wilber, Compton, Calif.

Application March 12, 1946, Serial seesaw g 1 Claims. (01. 222-323) Thisapplicationrelates to a device for applying liquid surfacing materialsto fioors. Its general object is to provide a successful reservoir typewax applicator.

Many attempts have been made to provide a successful applicator in whichliquid wax is fed from a reservoir to a spreading device. Such deviceshave almost invariably been unsatisfactory,

largely because of the nature of the liquid wax. Being a floor coveringmaterial, liquid wax must necessarily be capable of coalescing to a hardtough substance. Consequently. it will cake and harden in any fluidchannels that are provided for delivering it to a floor surface.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide an applicatorincluding distributing means for conveying liquid from a reservoir to afloor surface and having a spreader adapted to pick up the liquid thusconveyed to the floor surface and spread it into a uniform film. Thespreader is separate from the .distributing means and is removable sothat it may be immersed in a cleaning solution for washing out theaccumulation of wax therein. An object of the invention is to provide anapplicator of this type having a spreader that can thus be easilycleaned and having distributing means that is relatively free fromclogging and can be cleaned without difficulty in the event of clogging.

An important characteristic of the invention is the provision ofdistributing means in the form of a plurality of fingers which directthe liquid wax to the floor surface by the flowing of the wax along theexterior surfaces of the fingers as contrasted to the flowing of aliquid wax through a hollow duct. It will be readily apparent, that anycakiug that takes place on the spreader fingers will be on the exteriorsurfaces which are fully exposed for cleaning. Furthermore, even thoughthe spreader fingers are not cleaned, the liquid wax can continue toflow to the floor surfaces over the'layers of hardened wax alreadycollected on the fingers.

Another object of the invention is to provide an applicator havingspreader fingers that are adapted to flex in a manner to remove thelayers of hardened wax thereon, the layers of wax being loosened andseparated from the surfaces of the fingers by the flexing action.

Another object of the invention is to provide an applicator having aspreader and a plurality of distributing fingers s arranged withreference to the spreader than in the normal back and forth movement ofthe applicator it will ride upon the spreader, tilting backwardly andforwardly Just 2 sufilciently to bring the distributor fingers intocontact with the fioor surface during one stage of the movement and tolift the distributor fingers from the floor surface during another stageof the movement.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent in the ensuingspecifications and appended drawings, in which: Y

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of .a wax applicator embodying ourinvention;

- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the applicator;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the applicator in a'diiferentstage of operation;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view of one of the distributor units;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified-form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a detail of a spreader.

As an example of one form in which the invention may be embodied, wehave shown in the drawings awax applicator embodying generally areservoir 5 for liquid wax, a spreader 6 attached to the underside ofthe reservoir, a plurality of dis- 25 tributor fingers 1 for conveyingliquid wax from the reservoir 5 to a floor surface 8, and a handle 9 bymeans of which the applicator is manipulated.

The reservoir 5 is elongated and of sufllcient length to traverse thewidth of a strip of wax that is to be laid by the applicator. Itembodies a lateral wall 9 which may be cylindrical, and end walls It.Attached to its lower side, as by soldering at 'l I, is a curved yoke i2having downwardly extending flanges l3 that converge downwardly andtoward each other.

A spreader 6 embodies a back l4 havin inwardly converging slots l5,receiving the flanges l3. To the lower side of the back It is secured a.pad l6 which may be, for example, of sheepskin.

In the upper side of the reservoir 5 is a filling neck II which isnormally closed by a cap I8 threaded thereon. The handle 9 is secured ina socket 19 which in turn is secured to the reservoir 5.

The distributor fingers 1 are elongated and molded from soft rubber orequivalent material so as to be flexible. The fingers may haveany'crosssectional shape although they are preferably of cylindricalshape as shown.

The upper end of each distributor finger 1 is attached to the reservoir5 through the medium of a collar 20 the lower extremity of which isturned inwardly to define a valve seat 2| and terminates in an annularflange 22 inside of and spaced from 5,5 the main wall of the collar. Theupper end of the modification of the a 22, and theupper end of the bodyportion of the finger I, at .the lower extremity of the neck 25, I

defines a shoulder 21 which is engaged normally against the valveseat.2l. The finger is installed in the collar with the neck undertension,

which results in the shoulder 21 being yieldinglydrawn against the valveseat 2|.

The wall 9 of the reservoir is provided with a 4 manner, it is possibleto place the neck 25 under initial tension which maintains the resilientengagement of the shoulder 21 against the valve seat 2|.

The bore 36 has another function. As a distributing finger I is presseddownwardly against the floor 9, it will flatten out to a greater extentby reaso'nof being hollow than if it were solid. Thisiflatte'ning outassists in'initially spreading the wax.

' The distributor finger I, instead of being arranged forwardly of thespreader pad 8, may be arranged to project downwardly and rearwardlyplurality of openings 28 communicating with the sumps 29 defined withinthe respective collars 29. The sumps 29 in turn communicate, throughopenings 39 in the flange 22, with annular valve chambers 3| definedbetween the flanges 22, the necks 25 and the shoulders 21. The sumps 29and valve chambers 31 are filled with liquid wax at all times (as longas some wax remains within the reservoir) and consequently the openingsdo not become clogged.

In operation, the applicator is drawn back and forth in a path parallelto the vertical plane of the handle 9. As the applicator is pushed awayfrom the operator, it will approach a position somewhat as shownin Fig.2. That is, the applicator will tend to tilt rearwardly from theposition shown in Fig. 3 toward the position shown inF'ig. 2 (resultingin the distributor fingers i being lifted off of the floor) as thenatural result of pushing the applicator forwardly, pro- 'vided that inthe beginning of the stroke the 'operators. arm extends rearwardly fromthe shoulder in order to grasp the handle 9. As the arm swings forwardlytoward a position depending vertically, the hand will swing downwardly,moving the handle 9 downwardly and tilting the applicator rearwardly.This forward stroke is indicated by the arrow 33 in Fig. 2.

0n the return stroke, indicated by the arrow 34 in Fig.3, the upward andrearward swinging of the hand will cause the handle 9 to be raised,bringing the distributing fingers 1 into contact with the floor surface.This will cause the fingers 1 to flex as indicated in Fig. 3 andwill-also cause the neck 25 to stretch on the lower side, pulling theshoulders 21 away from the valve seats 21 to produce gaps 35 throughwhich the liquid wax may flow onto the under surfaces of the fingers.The liquid wax will follow the surfaces of the fingers downwardly ontothe floor. and will thence be spread onto the floor in a plurality ofrelatively narrow ribbons corresponding to the distributor fingers I. Asthe applicator is again moved forwardly, the pad l6 of the spreader willpick up these ribbons of liquid wax and spread them into a filmextending uniformly the width of the applicator.

as shown in Fig. 5, with the spreader pad 8 disp'osed on the forwardside of the reservoir Hi.

This makes it possible for the spreader 6 to be pushed entirely into acorner of a room. into contact with a vertical wall 35 as indicated inFig. 5.

In this form of the invention, a contact of the distributor fingers I ismade at the forward extremity of the stroke instead of at the rearextremity as in Fig. 3. The forward extremity of the stroke would inthis case be arrived at when the operator's arm is extendingsubstantially vertically downwardly, the rear extremity of the strokeoccurring when the arm is extended rearwardly.

A preferred form of spreader structure is shown in Fig.6. Instead of awooden block, we provided a sheet metal spreader head l4 having roundedside walls 31 terminating in upwardly and outwardly flared flanges 38.The flanges 38 are engaged between the flanges l3 of the yoke 12. Theretention of the spreader head within the flanges 13 may be improved byforming the spreader head with the flanges normally spaced farther apartwith the distance between the inner sides of the flanges l3, andspringing the flanges 38 toward each other as the head is forced betweenthe flanges l3. Thus the spreader head is held between the flanges l3under compression.

The spreader head H is formed by first con-- structing a sheet metalchannel having the annular end extremity constituting a valve seat,

said inturned portion terminating in a reentrant flange provided with anopening, an integral distributor finger of resilient, compressibleelastic' material including a head portion engaged against Thedistributor fingers 1 are each formed with an axial bore 36. A finger isinserted into a collar 20 by inserting a rod into a bore 39 and thenpushing the head 24 through the'opening defined within the, flange 22.Being'of soft rubber, the head 24 will be compressed so as to passthrough this restricted opening and such compression is assisted by therestriction of the pressure against the head to the small central areaat the end of the bore 38. After it has passed the flange 22.

the head 24 will of course expand to its natural size, engaging the endof the flange as shown in Fig. 4. By' applying the spreader finger, in.this the inner edge of said flange, a neck portion normally undertension and extending'through the flange, and a shoulder normally heldin seating engagement with the seat by the tension in said neck portion;said distributor finger being adapted to flex laterally of the collarunder pressure against the surface to which the liquid is to be applied,and thereby to pull one side of the shoulder away from the seat andprovide an opening through which liquid may flow from within the collarto the 'exteriorsu'rfaceof theme- 2. A distributing device'as'deflned'inclaim 1'. wherein said distributor finger is of soft'r'ubb'er.

"3. A distributing de'vice'as defined in claim 2. wherein saiddistributor finger hasan' axial socket adapted to receive a'rodforforcing 'said"head through the flange in'th installation of the dis-' 4.In a floor waxing device having a reservoir, a collar projecting fromthe reservoir and having an inwardly and upwardly turned portionterminating in a reentrant annular flange and defining a valve seat atthe lower end of the collar, said flange having an upper edge spacedfrom said valve seat, and a distributor finger of compressible,resilient material carried by said collar and having a head engaging theupper edge of said annular flange, a neck portion under tension andextending through the flange, and a shoulder held by the tension of saidneck portion in sealing engagement with said valve seat, said flangehaving an opening through which liquid from the reservoir flowsdownwardly to the valve seat, and the distributor finger having a bodyportion projecting downwardly from the valve seat and adapted to bepressed against the floor and thereby moved laterally so as to stretchsaid neck portion and pull said shoulder away from the valve seat at thelower side thereof, whereby to permit the liquid to flow down theexterior surface of the distributor finger to reach the floor surface.

5. In a floor waxing device having a reservoir, the reservoir having apart forming an annular valve seat, a distributor finger ofcompressible, resilient material having a reduced neck portion definingspaced head and shoulder portions, the

shoulder being normally engaged with said valve seat, a support for thehead passing the neck portion and having a lateral opening passingmaterial from the reservoir to the seat, the support having a portionspaced from said valve seat and engaged by said head portion of saidfinger to hold said neck portion under tension, whereby said shoulder isnormally yieldingly held in sealing engagement with said valve seat,said distributor finger also including a body portion projectingdownwardly from the valve seat and adapted to be pressed against thefloor and thereby moved laterally to stretch said neck portion and pullsaid shoulder away from said valve seat at the lower side thereofpermitting liquid to flow from the reservoir, through said opening andthrough said seat, and down the exterior surface of the distributorfinger to reach the fioor.

6. An applicator for applying liquid to a surface including, a containercarrying liquid and having an outlet opening at the lower portionthereof defined by an inturned part establishing a downwardly facedannular seat and an upwardly faced support spaced above the seat axiallyof the opening, there being a fluid passage through said part betweenthe seat and the support, a unitary body of rubber having a partprojecting downwardly and presenting a face normally supported on saidseat, a head above said body and carried by the support and a neck undertension between the body and head, and a handle projecting from thecontainer, the projecting part of the body being exposed for movementinto pressure engagement with the surface to deflect the body andpartially disengage the face from the seat.

7. An applicator for applying liquid to a surface including, a containercarrying liquid and having a sheet metal section at the lower portion ofthe container with an opening defined by an inturned portion of saidsection establishing a downwardly faced annular seat and an upwardlyfaced support spaced above the seat axially of the opening, there beinga fluid passage through said portion between the seat and support, aunitary body of rubber having a part projecting downwardly andpresenting a face normally supported on said seat, a head above saidpart and carried by-the support and a neck undertension between saidpart and head, and a handle projecting from the container, the saiddownwardly projecting part being operable into pressure engagement withthe surface to deflect said part and partially disengage the face fromthe seat.

MICHAEL P. LA SCALA. JOE A. WILBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 621,936 Nevius Mar. 28, 1899722,281 Brown Mar. 10, 1903 798,532 Sanders Aug. 29, 1905 1,383,731Leigh July 5, 1921 1,729,934 Fraser Oct. 1, 1929 1,735,262 CarpenterNov. 12, 1929 2,102,749 Salvesen Dec. 21, 1937 2,106,280 Sandhop Jan.25, 1938 2,240,419 Rose Apr. 29, 1941 2,252,543 Beeh Aug. 12, 19412,264,736 Baker Dec. 2, 1941 2,339,767 Chandler Jan. 25, 1944 2,389,276Rogovin Nov. 20, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Germany Oct.6, 1932

